A Surprise Patient
by Drop And Die
Summary: Jeremie finds himself standing over a woman he never thought he'd see again.  Once more her life is in his hands.  Perhaps fate has given him a second chance? JxA. Warning: Avoid this if you're squeamish.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - **I obviously don't own Code Lyoko.

"Excellent work doctor. That was a smooth procedure." the scrub nurse exclaims as the last stitch is sown through the patient's chest. The double bypass went perfectly; there were no complications and the heart started immediately after the patient was removed from the ventilator. With a sigh, Jeremie drops the bloody tools into a container and steps back. Flipping up his eyewear, the blonde haired man gives a tight smile at another life elongated on the table before him.

"Need any help finishing up Carol?" Jeremie asks. He gives his scrub nurse a questioning look and gets a shake of the head in response.

"Nah, go enjoy your two hour break will ya? You look like you need one." Carol replies with a smirk. "At least until something else goes wrong." Jeremie chuckles at their traditional end-of-surgery joke and nods. He walks to the door with a wince at the usual stiffness after surgery. Pushing the door open with his elbows, Jeremie strips his gloves into the biohazard container and performs the usual cleaning procedures. The doctor glances through the window in front of his face at the patient who had trusted his life to Jeremie. _At least it was well-placed in this instance._

A cloud passes across his face. So many people he couldn't save but every doctor knew not to dwell on those. All he could do was his best and hope the majority clung onto life longer. Optimism definitely helped out in this job. _Surprised I still have it after all these years._ A wry smile passes his face at the thought of the last six years spent performing surgeries day in and day out. He dries his hands and walks out into the bustling hallway of the hospital that had become his home.

Carol finishes cleaning up the OR with a frown on her face. Jeremie seemed to get more and more distant every single day. _That man has no friends._ As a matter of fact she could pinpoint around the time period where stuff went downhill for him. During their idle chats in the years previous he would sometimes mention his old friends from high school. She gathered that they all were very close back then and still kept in touch. But now she couldn't honestly remember him mentioning any of them at all in the last year.

The frown deepens in worry on her carefree face as the OR gradually returns to its normally spotless self. Jeremie was definitely a different doctor than the usual ones around here; his ego never vied for dominance. She always thought he exercised the best skills of any surgeon here but he would never advance up the ranks. He was too quiet and reserved. Most of the interns called him Dr. Ice Eyes behind his back since Jeremie never said much more than what was required. She knew him better though; behind that steely exterior lived some great pain. Small glimpses of his agony had seeped out every once in a while. _Jeremie needs to find someone to love. That'll cure him._

Finally done with the usual post-op cleanup, Carol goes through the same routine that Jeremie did a few minutes earlier. Slightly abashed at her train of thought, she heads out the door and stops by the nurses' station to see what was on her to-do list for now. _Ah, post-op rounds with his patients._ She briskly grabs her clipboard and sees a commotion arriving from the receiving bay of the emergency room. There's never a shortage of emergencies at a hospital but this time was slightly different. The nurses and interns rushing this patient were all calling for Dr. Belpois.

"What's going on here?" Carol asks as the gurney passes her into the operating room she just cleaned. An intern breaks away from the mass and walks up. "Where's Dr. Belpois? This case is pretty serious." the young medical student asks.

"He just went to grab a coffee. I'll page him. Looks like something went wrong." Carol gives a wry smile at their tradition proving itself right once again. "Now, tell me what the problem is so I can relay the information." The intern looks at the chart and quickly recites the words on it.

"Young female, late 20s. Emergency medical personnel rushed her in here with a gunshot wound to the chest. Bullet is still inside. Blood pressure is very low, her skin is clammy and cool, and her breathing is labored with uneven chest rise. Possible hemothorax; here's the chest X-ray that we did quick." The intern hands over the ghostly white image and Carol holds it up into the light. She blanches at the picture and shakes her head. The bullet seemed to be lodged right by the heart and perilously close to the aorta. _Might have ruptured the aorta._ _This one probably is a lost cause._

"Alright, you go in with the others and get everything set up. The surgeon will be in there shortly." Carol feels the usual resolve fall upon her. She no longer was doing a job; now it was a mission to ensure that someone lived to see another sunrise. Sending a page to her boss, Carol also tells the nurse's station to release a hospital-wide page on the building's intercom system before running right back to the operating room.

Jeremie relaxes just a tad as the coffee floods his mouth. There really was something special about a simple cup of dark coffee after a successful surgery. It always tasted better to him. If the surgery failed well…then the brew reminded him of liquid ash. At least Mr. Dryson would live to enjoy whatever remained of his existence. _Except with a marked lack of bacon. That really does suck. _Two hours to himself and then a full day off. The blonde haired man thinks of the luxury of being able to read all day with no interruptions.

Not like he had anything else to do. Jeremie's life for the last ten years morphed from school to work seamlessly. Many times he wondered why he had picked this line of work. How intimately he knew a human heart and often held them in his hand. _Too bad you could never understand her heart until it was too late._ A med student had little time to socialize and his tenure as a doctor gave him no time at all. He didn't need it though. _Don't lie to yourself. You miss them all._ His worn face stared at him accusingly from the coffee cup. Running a hand through his hair, Jeremie recalls the faces of his four best friends. He hadn't talked to three of them in a year. Aelita, well…she had moved on with her life. The last communication with her had been their farewell before everyone went their separate ways after high school almost ten years ago. He felt it had been best to use a clean break with her.

Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich had kept him updated of how she was doing. So even though he hadn't talked or seen her in a decade Aelita's face still remained perfectly clear in his mind. Something in his head had performed slight alterations to his mental picture of her over the ensuing years but to him she remained beautiful no matter what. The blazing sensation of the coffee in his throat reminds Jeremie to get out of his morose train of thought. Let the past remain in the past. He had blown his chance; no point worrying about it now.

Too bad his mind refused to listen. Jeremie often spent his breaks from the stench of blood thinking about those four years that remained the happiest of his life. The people he had belonged with and made him feel accepted for the first time. Unfortunately the cruel whims of fate scattered them across the globe. He had received the invitation to the ten year reunion only a couple weeks ago but it remained unopened on his kitchen counter. Jeremie didn't want to rouse the old ghosts any more than he had to.

A buzz by his hip alerts him that he was paged and the dark thoughts flee him. Just as he reaches down to see Carol's name flashing across the screen a voice intones from the ceiling: "Dr. Belpois to OR 2. Dr. Belpois to OR 2." _Looks like something went wrong indeed._ Hastily draining the coffee, the doctor stands up and walks briskly towards the fate of yet another patient. His long medical jacket billowed behind him in his wake.

Jeremie enters the room and quickly washes his hands while Carol explains the bare facts. "Female, late 20s. Presented with a gunshot wound to the chest and the bullet is still lodged inside close to the heart. Clinical signs show possible hemothorax which the X-ray confirmed. The thing that brings this into your area is the sheer amount of blood in her thoracic cavity and the chance of a torn aorta in addition to the complications from the bullet." Her businesslike tone facilitates Jeremie's usual mood during surgery: steely resolve and calm determination to save a life.

"Any ID?" Jeremie asks casually while slipping on gloves and tying his facemask on. He made it a point to know exactly who he was operating on every time. Carol checks the chart and nods.

"Yeah. Her name is Aelita Schaeffer." Jeremie stops dead in his tracks and slowly turns his head to stare at his scrub nurse. His usual focus had just shattered upon hearing those innocent syllables._ No way I heard that right. No way at all._ Carol returns Jeremie's frantic gaze with concern. "What? Let's get moving!" she says and motions towards the door.

"Sorry, hand me the chart please." Jeremie commands in a shaky voice. Carol complies without a word and Jeremie's eyes stare in shock at the name printed on the bottom. There it was plain as day yet his mind kept throwing up possible solutions that this woman in mortal danger on a table five feet away was not the one he still loved. _Well then. I can't let her die! Once again her life is in my hands. What is she doing here in Boston? _Flicking away the errant thoughts buzzing through his head, Jeremie finally moves again and sighs with relief at the receding shock within him.

"Boss, are you alright?" Carol asks with genuine worry. She had never seen his façade crack so badly. That woman on the table clearly held some deep meaning to him. _But what?_ Carol stuffs her curiosity down. There would be time for questions later if this woman lived. If she didn't…well it didn't look like Jeremie would take that very well. "No matter what's going on she still needs your help." Jeremie nods and murmurs something to himself as he walks in.

Carol follows him into the OR with a puzzled expression behind the facemask. She thought she heard him say "She needs my help once more." Her fears subside as Jeremie blocks the emotions roiling within him and focuses solely on the task at hand. Looking at the alarmingly low blood pressure on the monitor, Jeremie motions for the scalpel to be placed in his hands. Relief flares in him for a brief instant as the usual focus falls back on him like a second skin. Jeremie glances at the small hole in her chest oozing blood and feels a surge of rage at whoever did this. He channels that anger into the scalpel as it becomes a part of his hand, his being.

Time becomes a series of sequential instants. Jeremie notices nothing except the patient under him. Each second lasts an eternity in his mind; surgeries always slowed time down to almost nothing for him. Other doctors said time sped up but to him the moments with life and death in his hands became bubbles he could examine at his leisure. So when he looked into a sea of blood there was no panic. There was only calm reaction and a search for the source of all that misplaced liquid. His hand moved swift and sure as the nurses and interns performed their various duties. "Suction!" he calls.

He lost track of how many bags of blood were hung on the rack out of the corner of his eye. There could be no doubt or worry right now. Jeremie's brow tightens at a wounded heart pumping blood into the wrong space. The bullet had apparently sliced a tear through the thoracic aorta and Aelita's blood pressure spike at being shot did the rest. The small tear had enlarged into a decent sized hole. Jeremie marvels for a second at how lucky she was; the outer membrane of the vessel remained intact over sixty percent of the rupture. If it had burst all the way she would have been dead before the emergency personnel had even arrived at the scene.

Now a dilemma confronted Jeremie. The aorta needed to be repaired but the bullet also couldn't remain lodged in her. It was so close to the heart and the bleeding artery. If he left the lump of metal in her then it could migrate and cause much more damage. On the other hand, taking it out while being so close to the aorta could finish the job of the bullet. Extreme caution ruled Jeremie now; a mistake either way and Aelita's life ended here on this cold metal table. That situation was mapped and all the consequences of both decisions figured out in about half a second. Without hesitation Jeremie holds his left hand out and says, "Clamp." He had to stop the bleeding for a minute to remove the bullet. Could the aorta stand the increased pressure he was about to put on it?

_It's all I can do._ Jeremie carefully places the clamp properly around the bleeding artery and slowly maneuvers his other hand to put it in the best place possible for removing the bullet. An insistent beeping sound from his left reminds him of Aelita's dire predicament. She didn't have much time; an hour at most before everything would go downhill. Then again a screw-up here and her life wouldn't go downhill; it would crash straight into the underworld. Suddenly he realized what exactly would happen if he released that clamp right now: Aelita could possibly survive but organ damage was likely. He had to ensure her body got some blood supply while he sutured the aorta. _But there's no time!_

With ten seconds of quick conversation Jeremie works out a plan with his assistant, Dr. Fairheim. They would perform a fast aortic bypass around the tear. Jeremie could then remove the bullet while Fairheim sutured the aortic wall directly. If all went well Aelita could avoid organ damage due to lack of blood supply. With a speed and efficiency born of years of using their skills, the two shunt some of the blood flow around the rupture. "Blood pressure's getting dangerously high. Her heart can't take this much longer and that rupture might break open any time." a nurse warns.

Sharing a look of sheer desperation, the two men trying to beat back the encroaching tide of death turn to their tasks. Somehow Jeremie removes the bullet without ever disturbing the throbbing vessel and he places the small object which had caused so much distress in the metal bowl offered by Carol. She puts the dish down and is struck by how the rounded metal ball stared at her like a malevolent pupil in a blood-red eye.

Jeremie joins Fairheim in the suturing and finally breathes slightly easier as the bleeding stops. They remove the temporary bypass grafts and close those up as well. By no means was she out of the woods. If it ruptured again then all bets were off. For now Aelita still lived; that's what mattered. The group takes a collective breath of hesitation as they all wait for the aorta to break back open. "Blood pressure is fairly steady and it's dropped a little." a nurse comments. Jeremie inserts a chest tube to drain the rest of the hemothorax and grabs his sutures.

"I'm still a little worried about how high it is. She needs to have it as low as possible while the artery heals itself. Let's give her a little pain medication to drop it." Jeremie says while closing Aelita up. Another bag joins the IV as the liquid trickles into Aelita's arm and through her now closed-system network of vessels. Jeremie stands back as the last stitch closes her chest and smiles brightly. _Never has a surgery affected me like this._ A feeling of merriment spreads through the team; most patients with such a wound died on the table.

Carol glances at her boss and immediately senses his ever-present depression fading away. Jeremie stared at the pink hair splayed on the table with relief shining in his glacial eyes. She smiles to herself and knows exactly what Ms. Schaeffer meant to him. Death had been thwarted for at least this pristine moment. Carol lightly places an unstained hand on Jeremie's shoulder. "Good work. She's alive. I'll cancel your surgeries for tonight. I know where you will be." Jeremie laughs at how transparent he was and gives her a glance of appreciation. _She's alive. Now she just needed to recover speedily._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer **- Nope, don't own Code Lyoko. How I wish I did.

The nurse looks at the slumped figure resting in the chair curiously as she peruses the patient's chart. So it was true then; the hospital grapevine actually had been right. The blonde nurse taps a finger lightly on the chart while her mind ponders the scandalous possibilities. _Why is Dr. Ice Eyes so wrapped up in this woman?_ Everyone was abuzz with the news. They had all wondered about the remote doctor's life and Carol never gave in to the wheedling or bribes. Remembering the task she was here to do, the nurse checks the chest tube to make sure no coagulated blood stuck to the inner lining. A clogged tube could lead into many nasty complications so the hospital took great pains to check them frequently.

The nurse briskly checks the pertinent details and marks on the chart the time and date of her inspection. All was well for now but these cases had a very high mortality rate in the first week. _She'll be lucky to make it through._ Throwing a last curious glance at the slumbering doctor in the chair she walks out to report to the other staff that the doctor showed no signs of leaving their new patient's side. Carol passes by her into the room as she walks out.

Carol ignores her boss slumped into the chair and stands by Aelita's beside. She too was incredibly curious about what went on between the two but that could wait. The poor woman looked haggard; her face was wan and the tubes helping her breathe and drain the last remnants of the internal bleeding didn't help. So far the aorta had held and now modern medicine sat back on its haunches and waited. Either Aelita would survive or another rupture would send them all into the operating room once again. Shaking the darker thoughts out of her head, Carol wonders how Jeremie is doing.

She walks around the bed and gives a start at the beeping sound in her ear. Carol chuckles wryly at herself for being surprised by a sound that she heard every day of her life. _Guess I'm on edge due to today's events_. A routine check of the monitor by the bed shows no abnormalities. She slumps into the blue chair by Jeremie with a soft crash but her boss hears it. Raising his head off of his hand, Jeremie immediately looks towards the bed and sighs with relief at the sight of Aelita.

He glances away from Aelita and at Carol. "How long was I out?" he asks while stifling a cracking yawn. Jeremie rummages through his medical coat slung on the other chair for his phone and checks the time. _Wow, I slept for a while. _Carol motions to the tray on the table beside her and Jeremie looks at the plate of food with a famished smile.

"I think you slept for four hours? You needed it after that surgery after all. Now eat." Carol commands sternly. Jeremie laughs and maneuvers the warm tray onto his lap. He opens the crisp biscuit and inhales the aroma of stew wafting from the white bowl.

"Thanks, Mom." Jeremie teases before cramming his mouth with the biscuit. His favorite scrub nurse rolls her eyes and watches him devour the tray in about a couple minutes. Hospital staff sure knew how to eat fast; time was scarce during shifts. Putting the tray on the table, Jeremie feels his gazed dragged to the splash of pink on the bed. _She still acts like a magnet after all these years…_

"What's with the pink hair? Just curious." Carol asks hesitantly. She wasn't sure if Jeremie wanted to talk about how he knew Aelita but the curiosity couldn't contain itself any longer. They saw all kinds of people every day but the woman didn't seem the type for anything flamboyant like dyeing her hair pink. Jeremie smirks at all the times people wondered about Aelita's hair before replying.

"It's natural. Don't ask why; I can't tell you that." He responds briskly. Silence settles on the two unbroken except for the steady beating of the monitoring equipment while Carol processes that statement. _I don't think I've ever heard one sentence from him that said so much about him._ First off Dr. Belpois obviously knew her very well. Secondly Carol found herself with a burning shard of curiosity in her heart at the secrecy. _Surely pink hair can't be a national secret or something?_ Shrugging away that particular thought, the nurse wonders what to ask next. Jeremie opens his mouth to speak while Carol struggles with her mental consternation.

"It's been so long…" Jeremie sighs and continues staring at Aelita's peaceful face. "Ten long years." He shakes his head at his own stupidity. _I just never can learn my lesson with her. _He had thought that Aelita taught him the lessons he needed to learn after their breakup but he was wrong yet again. What good did ignoring her for ten years do? As he could attest very well, life liked to end suddenly without warning. Once again Aelita dropped into his existence to reveal another important truth: Live life with zest and without regrets. Sadly Jeremie failed both commands miserably. His work tried to be a substitute for life but it never could fill the thirst inside him for long. Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich flit through his mind and Dr. Belpois smiles at how much they meant to him still. _I'm an idiot for driving them away. _

Flipping open his phone and ignoring yet another look of concern on Carol's face, Jeremie scrolls through the menu to a number he hadn't called in a year. _Come on Ulrich, I hope you still have this number._ The long-distance would cost him a fortune but he didn't care. His salary barely got used anyway. His bank account was quite fat for a man of his age. The ringing tone buzzes three times before an incredibly familiar voice answers with suspicion. "Hello?" Ulrich asks.

"Ulrich! It's Jeremie." Jeremie chuckles into the phone at the lightness in his heart. How could icy isolation compare to talking to a best friend once more. A slight gasp greets his statement and a second of undistinguishable whispers follows. _He's probably mentioning this to Yumi._

"Hey. It's been too long by far." Ulrich's voice contains a hint of an accusation. They hadn't given up on Jeremie; he gave up on them. Jeremie accepts the rebuke he deserves and apologizes.

"Sorry Ulrich, I've been an idiot the last year for ignoring you guys. That's going to change. But anyway why is Aelita in Boston?" he asks. Silence from the other end tells Jeremie that they had known she was here.

"Oh? You ran into her then? She requested a transfer from her company and they sent her there." Jeremie's heart trills with anticipation at the thought of Aelita actually staying here. _Focus! She has to live first._

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it running into her. I saw her on my operating table." Jeremie continues with the story of the surgery while Carol listens intently by his side. He doesn't seem to notice her eavesdropping.

"Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me. How's she doing?" Ulrich asks with a note of panic in his voice. Jeremie looks over at Aelita again.

"She's stable for now. The first week is critical so we'll see how it goes. Any chance of making it out here on a short notice? I'm sure she'd appreciate the support." Another few seconds of whispers and the voice that returns to the phone is feminine but still familiar.

"Hey Jeremie. We can probably fly out for a couple days since Ulrich's caseload isn't very high and I'm off on vacation this week anyway. Alright if we come in tomorrow evening?" Yumi asks.

"Shouldn't be a problem. Don't bother looking for a hotel; my house has plenty of room. Three extra bedrooms that I never use. I'll call Odd right after this alright?"

"Sounds good. We'll call Mark to let him know." Jeremie's brows raise in confusion as sudden silence greets him after Yumi's statement.

"Mark?" he asks back. A clearing of the throat echoes from across the ocean and Jeremie taps his fingers on the chair arm impatiently.

"Aelita's ex-husband. We never told you about him since she asked us not to mention it. That's why she requested the transfer after all; he worked in the same office. I think she wanted to get away from whatever tied her to him. Anyway they've been apart for a few months now. Their marriage only lasted…what was it Ulrich? Oh yes, a couple years. She never mentioned why it fell apart." Yumi replies in a rush. Jeremie absorbs the information and waits for the inevitable jealousy to surge in him. Thankfully Jeremie's tense body meets no surge of anger. _Guess I outgrew at least one thing from my teenage years._ That news didn't matter near as much as all of Aelita's friends being here for her.

"Ah, alright. Well I'm looking forward to seeing you again. I'll call you if anything comes up with Aelita's condition. Have a safe trip." Jeremie replies cheerfully.

"Goodbye Jeremie. We'll let you know our flight details once we know." Yumi replies and hangs up. Jeremie puts the phone down for a second to think about the conversation. Knowing his friends were alive and well gave him a certain feeling of euphoria; something that hadn't graced his senses in months. A sudden statement comes from his right shoulder as Carol blurts a question that had been nagging her all day.

"You love her don't you?" Carol softly asks. Jeremie turns to gaze at her with piercing blue eyes and nods.

"Yes. I always have. I screwed up ten years ago but now who knows what could happen?" Jeremie replies. Neither one notices Aelita's eyelids twitch on the bed. Standing up with another cracking sound emanating from his back, Jeremie obsessively checks Aelita's vital signs to make sure everything was fine. Carol wanted to continue this thread of conversation to find out what happened ten years ago but wisely shuts her mouth. That question probably spent all of her leeway with him.

Jeremie toys with his phone while marveling at how easily the old emotions resurrected themselves. Sunlight glints off the spinning rectangle and Carol realizes that hospital duties needed her once more. She gets up and leaves without a word as Jeremie loses himself in thought. A few nurses sneak a peek through the door as Carol passes through at the doctor within before the door closes once more. Remembering that one friend still needed to hear the news, Jeremie flips open the phone once more and scrolls down to Odd.

"Yo, this is Odd." A voice replies. Jeremie laughs at how unchanged it was; he could guarantee that Odd still retained his crazy hyper personality.

"This is Einstein. It's been a while." Jeremie replies and winces at the cry of delight from the other end. Holding the phone a little further away from his ear, Jeremie waits for Odd's excitement to abate.

"Been so long Einstein! What are you calling for now? How is the doctoring? Anything new in your life?" Odd asks rapidly. Jeremie tries to keep the barrage of questions straight as Odd pauses long enough for him to answer.

"Well, I'm calling to let you know that Aelita almost died last night. I operated on her myself and it was touch and go for most of it." Jeremie explains the situation again and for once Odd had no reply.

"When should I be there?" he replies quietly after a few seconds. Jeremie smiles at Odd's fierce loyalty to his friends. _He hasn't changed._

"Anytime you can. Ulrich and Yumi are headed in tomorrow night and it will be a pleasure seeing you as well if you can make it." Jeremie replies.

"I definitely can. Work isn't busy right now. I'll be in tomorrow evening as well then. Not that long of a flight for me since I'm not an ocean away. See you soon Einstein. Take care of Aelita for us will you?" Odd asks with concern.

"Of course you can count on that." Jeremie replies and hears a chuckle from Odd.

"Why did I even ask? I know you'll do anything for her still. Like the good old days right?" Odd replies in merriment. Jeremie murmurs something in response while thinking of those good old days. Everything was so bright and clear in that time; not as murky and dark as life seemed to be for him now. He had known who he was and what he wanted then. Jeremie was now just a workaholic with no ties in life beyond his four friends. Shaking the melancholy from his thoughts, Jeremie bids Odd adieu and shuts the phone covering with a click.

He looks around the room and realizes that today was supposed to be his day off. At least today contains more excitement than usual. Not many other relaxation days led him to a bedside vigil. _This is what you call excitement? You need to get out more._ A snide voice replies in the back of his mind. Jeremie laughs at how he really hadn't lived since high school. His life put itself on hold once he went to college. He also knew why his life essentially remained in stasis for the last ten years.

There the cause sat, lost in whatever dreams flitted through her brain right now. He never got over her but that wasn't a surprise at all. The attempt at forgetting her for ten years merely walled away the emotions in a corner of his mind. Seeing her face yesterday cracked that barrier and once she looked at him with those emerald eyes then it would crumble down into a pile of rubble. It'll be like high school all over again. _Hopefully not. That didn't turn out very well at the end._ A slight veil of pain crosses Jeremie's eyes and Aelita stirs slightly. He quickly rushes to the bed and checks the monitor. Her blood pressure was steadily creeping up, putting pressure on that frail suture in her chest.

_It went up by 10 in an hour? That's not good._ Jeremie checks the chart hanging off the edge of the bed and realizes why. The pain medication was wearing off. He didn't want to keep her drugged for too long but right now it was necessary. A couple days of drug-induced coma beat another aortic rupture by a fair margin. He walks out the room and returns with a vial of morphine grabbed from the supply closet. Tapping the syringe and making sure there was no air in the tip, Jeremie deftly inserts the needle into her IV drip. The clear liquid flows into the tube and Aelita seems to relax into the bed. For a second, Aelita had regained consciousness but the incoming opiate was enough to send her into blackness again before she could even so much as open her eyes. Jeremie feels his heart loosen as the blood pressure dips once more.

The door opens just as he disposes of the syringe and Carol walks back in with a couple policemen in tow. Jeremie looks at them steadily; these kinds of interviews were fairly normal for him. Although generally they were directed at the patient, he still had a responsibility as a doctor to be there. "When is she going to be awake to talk to?" the taller cop asks gruffly.

"Not for a couple days. She needs to remain unconscious for the best chance of surviving the aortic trauma. Why was she shot anyway?" he asks.

The second cop responds before his partner could shoot a look of warning at him. "The usual pointless crime we see every day. Apparently she went into a mom and pop store to grab a few things and someone came barging in to rob it. The store manager said she tried to stop the gunman but got a bullet to the chest for her trouble. Well it actually worked; he ran out after shooting her. Damn foolhardy thing to do." The cop says admiringly. "Glad to see she lived through it. Everyone there thought she would die for sure. All thanks to you, doctor."

"Thanks but I had some help." Jeremie says sincerely. "I'll call you once she's in condition to talk. The nurse's station will get your number. Have a good day gentlemen." The cops nod and file back out the door.

"You doing alright?" Carol asks once again.

"Yep. My friends will be here tomorrow and Aelita's in stable condition. Definitely better than a few other alternatives that come to mind." Jeremie replies while pacing the room. He suddenly needed to shed a burst of nervous energy. "Wonder if I should take tomorrow off…" he muses as the small room seems to draw closer to him.

"Don't see why you can't. I don't remember you ever taking a day off in fact." Carol replies while tapping her finger against her chin. She really hadn't realized how much of her boss's life revolved around work until just now. Heading for the door in her usual brisk walk, Carol opens it and looks back at Dr. Belpois. "My shift ends so good luck. She'll be just fine you know."

"Thanks. Relax a bit and say hi to those kids for me!" Jeremie replies good-naturedly. Carol disappears into the bustling veins and arteries of the hospital. He takes his accustomed place in the blue chair opposite Aelita's bed and leans his head against the wall. The burst of energy fades as quickly as it arrived and tiredness replaced it. Sleep was a luxury he never got enough of. The steady drone of Aelita's heartbeat on the display gives Jeremie a rhythm to slip into dreams with. The sun moves across the still woman on the bed and the slumbering man a few feet away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer - **I'm in jail for saying "Go die in a fire." to William's clone. So no, I don't own Code Lyoko.**  
**

"Wow, what a flight." Yumi moans as the pilot welcomes the airplane occupants to Boston. The black haired woman stands up wearily and glares at the light filtering through the overcast sky outside. Ulrich chuckles tiredly at her complaint and pulls out the luggage from the racks above. He turns on his phone and sees two messages from Jeremie. The line steadily moves forward while he listens and Yumi rests her head on his shoulder. Shutting his phone and stowing it away in a pocket, Ulrich turns to look at his wife.

"That was Jeremie trying to check in on us. I'll call him once we get into the airport terminal proper. Hope nothing's gone wrong with Aelita while we were on the way…" He frowns at the dark possibilities. They exit the gate and join the crowd flowing towards the baggage claim. Yumi gives him a reassuring smile.

"He would've mentioned it in the message, dear." Ulrich thinks about it and nods. Yumi continues as they pass the food court and the various people feasting. "Wasn't Odd getting in about the same time as us?"

"Yeah. He's in a different terminal though so we'll meet him outside." The two get in line for customs and hand over the usual documentation once they reach the officer. He peruses the documents and waves them on with a bored look occupying his face. Too many people passed before him for the officer to care. Yumi and Ulrich thank him and move on to grab their luggage from the slowly rotating conveyor belt. Remembering to call Jeremie, Ulrich dials his number.

"Hello. I'm assuming you've arrived safely then?" Jeremie's voice pipes up in his ear.

"Yep, just got our luggage and passed through customs with no problem. We'll be right out. Odd there yet? Oh, anything on Aelita?" Ulrich asks.

"Not yet. His plane just landed. I might see you all arrive at the same time. She's in stable condition still. She should wake up fairly soon; the sutures have adhered the sides of the tear together by now. Anyway, I'll be talking to you face to face in a couple minutes." Jeremie hangs up and Ulrich lets Yumi know with a look that Aelita's condition hadn't changed. They stroll through the large space and Yumi realizes that the airport was more a mall than anything else. _All these stores to distract people from waiting for a flight? Jeez._

The two reach the doors and walk out onto the pickup platform. There Jeremie stood; Yumi gasps at how familiar he looked. Sure there were a few more lines plastered into his face but the blue eyes still shone with vitality as always. _It's been far too long._ They saw Aelita at the wedding two years ago; Jeremie hadn't been with them in the flesh in at least five years. An ecstatic grin breaks out on his face as he actually runs forward to them. Ulrich laughs at his friend's boyishness and finds himself crushed in a bear hug. "Hey! It's so great to see you." Jeremie half- says, half-laughs. Yumi gets the next hug. Pulling away from his friends, Jeremie looks them up and down with a critical eye. "Looks like you're doing well." Age hadn't changed them at all except for slight modifications.

Jeremie sees a bright purple shirt moving their way over Yumi's head. _He really refuses to let go of that color. _He chuckles to himself and points in response to Ulrich and Yumi's confused stares. The two whirl around with exclamations of delight as Odd rolls his eyes. "Hey Einstein, I was trying to sneak up on them. Thanks a lot." He says while the hugs make their usual rounds again.

"Sorry. I'm always here to spoil your fun Odd." Odd laughs at that and nods. "Flights went alright for both of you I see. You want to head directly to the hospital or drop the stuff off at my place first?" The other three give him a look that says exactly what they want to do. "Okay, dumb question. Let's go shall we?" Jeremie says and points to the beige SUV he borrowed from Carol. She didn't seem to mind the switch for his small convertible for today.

The group clambers into the vehicle and Jeremie flips the ignition. Odd scowls at the music and changes stations. Jeremie was hopeless in the tune department without his or Aelita's help. _Hopefully he'll be having a lot more help from Aelita in the future._ Odd always detested how those two fell apart; anyone could see they needed each other. Well God had knocked on Jeremie's door to leave him a note: Here's a second chance, don't screw it up! Besides, even if Aelita didn't know the true reason she had chosen Boston her friends did.

The car ride passes uneventfully; the group spends the time performing small talk on the many topics that accrued in a year. Jeremie of course wanted to know the most and his friends were happy to oblige him. He learned all the little details that he missed out on thanks to his withdrawal. Yumi and Ulrich were quite happy in France; he continued to work on legal cases while Yumi ran a small landscaping business. "I know it's crazy. I never really expected to be interested in the law myself. But look where life goes!" Ulrich says after giving their status update.

Sighing theatrically and placing a hand on his forehead in abject misery, Odd begins his little update. Yumi punches him in the arm for his flair of drama. "You know Yumi, I really didn't miss that at all." The rest of them laugh at Odd's wounded expression. "Anyway, I'm doing very well. Graphic design has been great so far. Still no marriage for me but I do have a prospect." Ulrich rolls his eyes at Odd's last little tidbit.

"Prospect? You're engaged for heaven's sake. Jane wouldn't be happy to hear this you know." Yumi replies while Jeremie raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"Don't tell on me! I don't want to die yet." Odd whines and Yumi acts like she's pulling out her phone. He swiftly grabs it out of her hand and sticks his tongue out at the surprised Japanese woman. Jeremie laughs to himself at seeing all this in the mirror.

"You know the second we all get together we're teenagers again. Wonder if when we meet in say forty years we'll be doing all this stuff?" Ulrich comments as Yumi and Odd continue to wrestle for the phone. Finally Yumi pulls it out of Odd's hand and sits back again while gathering her breath. The three turn to Jeremie as one. "Well? How has it been going Dr. Einstein?" Ulrich asks.

"Nothing has changed for me in years. I work and that's about it." Jeremie replies quietly. "At least Aelita was one I managed to save. Some didn't make it after all." He continues with a haunted look in his eyes. Focused on the road now, the doctor doesn't notice his friends sharing a concerned glance.

"Just work? How can you do nothing else?" Odd asks. "There's been no one for you here? Not even friends?"

"Work has been my life for ten years. Nope, you're the only friends I have really." Jeremie replies truthfully and winces at how bad it sounds. Yumi sighs and the air of joviality in the vehicle diminishes. Ulrich places a hand on Jeremie's shoulder for a second and pulls away.

"You still love her." Odd says quietly. It was not a question; Jeremie's friends knew him too well. They all figured he did but not to this extent. A wry smile creeps on Jer's face as he says the answer for the second time today. He turns into the hospital parking lot.

"Yep." The vehicle pulls into one of the closest spots to the hospital entrance. "Here we are, courtesy of one of the perks of being an excellent surgeon." Jeremie says.

"Nice modesty there Einstein." Yumi teases as the group files out of the van and into the rain that was beginning to fall from the sky. The dark and dreary clouds above fit fairly well with the reason they were here. Jeremie ignores the feeling of water running in rivulets down his face while the other three hasten their strides. The screen doors slide open silently as the three walk in followed by Jeremie with his doctor's coat flowing in the strengthening wind.

Nurses and interns stare curiously at the group traversing their way through the halls. They had never known that Dr. Ice Eyes had friends…until now. The rumor mill would feed on this little string of events for a while. Yumi looks around at all the controlled chaos and wonders how Jeremie manages to function in this disarray. He had always been somewhat impatient when stuff didn't go well and a hospital fit the bill for a place where stuff didn't always work out as planned.

Carol walks out of Aelita's room just as Jeremie and his entourage reaches it. "Hey Jeremie. These are your friends I'm guessing? Nice to meet you all. I'm his primary scrub nurse, Carol." She shakes hands with each one in turn before going back to business. "Nothing's changed, her condition is still stable. We've reduced the morphine levels so she'll wake up within the next twenty four hours."

"Excellent. Thanks for all your hard work." Jeremie replies and opens the door to his home for the last couple days. Carol waves goodbye and heads for her post-operation rounds. The forlorn image of a helpless Aelita with bright emerald eyes closed greets the four of them. "Aelita…" Yumi murmurs as they all walk slowly to her bed. Jeremie smiles faintly to himself as Yumi places a light hand on Aelita's forehead. Odd looks up from his friend's quiet face and inspects Jeremie.

"How lucky are we that you were here, Jer?" Odd asks with a measure of curiosity. Jeremie looks over at him and chuckles.

"An aortic rupture has a very high fatality rate; we both got lucky honestly." Ulrich rolls his eyes at Jeremie's modesty.

"Before you were saying you were an excellent surgeon but now it's sheer luck? Pick one." Ulrich jokes. Yumi relocates herself to the nearest chair and stares with a mixed sense of worry and relief at her stricken friend.

"Okay fine. My skills as a surgeon helped but luck truly saved her life. Does that work?" Jeremie replies. Odd and Ulrich take chairs by Yumi while Jeremie stays in place on the edge of Aelita's bed.

"Yes it does." Ulrich says while putting an arm around Yumi's shoulders. The next hour is filled with conversation about the years they spent together at Kadic. A comfortable silence ensues as each person falls into their own thoughts. The only sounds that mar their quiet isolation are breathing and the rhythmic pulse of the heart rate monitor. The sudden beeping of a cellular phone makes Jeremie jump and he looks towards a shifting Odd. Looking at the text message, Odd smirks and puts it back down.

"Was it Jane?" Ulrich asks with his eyes closed.

"Yeah. Just reminding me to say hello to Jeremie for her. Which I technically didn't. So, Jane says hi!" Odd says with enthusiasm. Jeremie laughs and stands up to check Aelita's chart for the last dosage time. Doing a few quick calculations in his head, the doctor comes up with a rough estimate of ten hours until she wakes up.

"She won't be up for a while in all probability guys. Who's hungry?" Jeremie asks while looking at Odd with a grin. Noticing this, Odd laughs and nods his head.

"You know me too well Einstein. I'm sure there are a few good places around here. Lead the way!" he calls and bounds out of his chair. They all look at Aelita one more time before heading out. Swiftly deciding amongst themselves on the O'Charley's a few blocks away, the gang heads with empty stomachs for a late dinner. Jeremie walks into the restaurant resolving to get a few of his questions answered over dinner. There was a lot he was curious about.

"Who's up for an appetizer?" Odd asks while he hunts through the menu for something to eat. "Onion rings? Quesadillas?" he asks himself. Ulrich ignores Odd's mumbling and debates on the tilapia or steak. The waitress asks for their drink orders and everyone goes with water except for Odd, who asks for a Heineken. After the drinks arrive and the appetizers asked for Jeremie leans forward.

"Fill me in on what's been up with Aelita. I'm curious and I regret ignoring her for almost a decade." Jeremie commands in between a few swallows of his ice cold water. Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich share a glance then decide that there's really no point following Aelita's command anymore.

"Alright. I'm assuming you want more info on the marriage and Mark?" Ulrich asks and gets a nod from his friend in response. He gathers his thoughts and begins the tale. "Aelita didn't really talk much about her relationships since none of them apparently were serious. Three years ago she started mentioning Mark's name a lot so we started to wonder. She met him at her office and they seemed to hit it off immediately. " Odd smiles at his gigantic plate of onion rings and starts to dig in. Everyone nabs a few from the pile and the conversation gives way to a couple minutes of eating.

Ulrich dips a piece into the ranch sauce and devours it. Wiping his hands and mouth with the napkin, he continues. "Those were good indeed. Anyway, Odd met him a couple months before the wedding since Mark and Aelita went on vacation near him." Ulrich motions for Odd to finish chewing and continue.

Odd takes a pull of his beer and releases a satisfied sigh. "Oh yes. Mark is about 5'11", brown hair, glasses, and without a pound of extra flesh on him. Didn't talk much though; I could tell he was shy around a friend of Aelita's. I stayed with them for a couple days and Mark got used to me after a while. Obviously he's incredibly smart; Aelita always does like the intelligent ones." Jeremie chuckles at that and a glint of remembrance floats in his eyes for a couple seconds. The waitress asks for their orders and each one says their choice in turn.

"He treated her very well and Aelita seemed bubbly and happy for those two days. I thought they were deeply in love and turns out the wedding a few months later proved me right…at least at that point." Odd hesitates for a second and then commits himself to mentioning something he hadn't said on the topic before. "Well honestly, something inside me said their relationship wouldn't last. I think I'm biased towards Aelita and Jeremie. It just feels right." Yumi and Ulrich raise their eyebrows while the old familiar hint of a blush pops up on Jeremie's face. Odd crows with laughter and points to his friend's reddening countenance.

Yumi finishes chuckling and continues on from there. "The wedding was marvelous; I had never seen Aelita so happy since her early materialization days. Aelita debated for weeks on whether to invite you, Jeremie, but she ended up believing that a clean break required no mention of the event. We all wished her the best and quite enjoyed the reception and ceremony." Ulrich laughs at the fond memories of the crazy stuff they did together. _Wonder if Jeremie would want to see the pictures? They're great._

"Obviously we didn't think anything was wrong after that. Her periodic updates made it sound like everything with her husband went peachy keen. They relocated and got better jobs at a different programming company. No children though. I thought that meant they were waiting until they were financially stable." Yumi remembers the last few months of Aelita's marriage; how the poor woman had asked her for advice plenty of times.

Taking a drink of water to help clear her mind, Yumi looks at Jeremie and begins the ending of the tale. "Aelita started calling me more often after a year and a half passed. She knew something was wrong with Mark and her but couldn't figure it out. I tried to be as supportive as I could but the rifts between the two only expanded. Finally I got a call from her a little while ago and the first words out of her mouth were: I'm getting divorced next week. She never said why exactly they broke apart and I didn't ask. I knew she didn't want to talk about it." Jeremie's face creases into sadness as he absorbs the information. He never wanted Aelita to get hurt by anything.

"So what led her to Boston after the divorce?" Jeremie asks. Odd looks impatiently at his watch after another grumble erupts from his stomach.

"Honestly I think she wanted to get away from her failed marriage and back into a time where everything seemed right." says Odd. Yumi looks over at him with a surprised expression at the insightful comment that just fell from his mouth.

"What do you mean?" Ulrich pipes up. Odd rolls his eyes and gives Ulrich a "really now?" look.

"I mean she wanted to go back in time to her happy years at Kadic. Guess who lives in Boston?" Odd points to Jeremie as if the rhetorical question didn't prove his argument. Yumi thinks about his statement and realizes that it made perfect sense.

"Wow Odd, that does fit. A week after the divorce while she was moving out I called her. Aelita broke down on the phone and said something I didn't quite get until now. Her speech was rendered incoherent by the tears but I thought I heard "I miss him; I know where I'm going" fall from her mouth." Jeremie looks at Yumi with a strange expression on his face. A spark of hope ignites the old bonfire of his love for Aelita. This moment of realization for everyone is cut short by the arrival of four steaming plates of food.

"Finally! I've been starving so badly." Odd exclaims as his knife slices away the first part of a succulent steak. Jeremie digs into his tilapia and the full plate quickly disappears into his stomach. Yumi and Ulrich stop eating and stare at him.

"When did you learn to eat like Odd?" Ulrich asks. Jeremie smiles at his empty plate and raises an eyebrow at the bemused couple.

"I'm a doctor. Leisure time isn't exactly in my job description. I eat when I can and as fast as I can." Jeremie replies. Ulrich shrugs and returns to the steak in front of him. Jeremie settles into his chair and enjoys the warmth of being with his friends. Soon Aelita would awaken and he could ask her directly what this move to Boston meant. Ulrich and Yumi eat exhaustedly; sleep escaped them on the flight.

Speeding up things, Jeremie asks for the check while the rest finish off their respective meals. Odd and Yumi open their mouths to complain but one chilling glare from Jeremie's blue eyes close them. He hands the waitress his credit card with a smile and offered thanks. "So, back to the house for sleep or to the hospital?" Ulrich and Yumi share yawns and pick the sleep option. Odd shrugs; he didn't feel tired but excess sleep is always excellent.

"Judging by these two I think sleep is the best option. She'll be awake in the morning I'm sure." Jeremie says with a reassuring smile. Yumi asks for a to-go box for her remaining bit of pasta. The other three plates sat forlornly on the table with the usual debris of a meal gracing their surface. Jeremie excuses himself to use the restroom while Yumi scoops her food into the white box. A minute of idle chitchat passes by until Jeremie returns and they head out the door.

The ride passes by uneventfully; Jeremie talks with Odd about random things while Yumi and Ulrich fall asleep in the backseat. The headlights pierce through the silvery rain as the car winds towards Jeremie's house. Pulling into the driveway, Jeremie nudges Yumi and Ulrich awake while Odd unstraps his seatbelt with a snap. "Nice place Einstein." Odd remarks at the tasteful brick house with a garage and two stories.

"It's alright. I got it fairly cheap when I first moved here and since my salary never gets used for anything the place was paid off last year." Jeremie replies. Odd and Jer drag the luggage in while the other two stagger inside and collapse onto the nearest soft object: the living room couch. Shaking off some excess moisture before entering the house, the two beasts of burden drop the suitcases in the kitchen. "Upstairs are the three extra bedrooms. Take whichever you want."

Yumi gets off the beige couch and looks around at the room. A few colored glass sculptures and a painting over the mantel gave some indication of taste. Even so, the house obviously didn't mean much to the owner. It existed as a place to recuperate at, nothing more. An atmosphere of disuse seemed to fill the residence. Ulrich sighs and starts up the stairs with his luggage banging at the step below him each time he moved up. Yumi follows him into the first room on their left and immediately flips off her socks and falls onto the bed. Ulrich follows suit and the two swiftly leave the world behind in favor of sleep.

Odd looks at Jeremie standing out the window at the raining skyline. _He'll be lost in thought for a while._ Standing up quietly, Odd heads upstairs and calls Jane before heading to sleep. Jer contemplates what he heard at dinner tonight and ignores the soft murmurs of Odd's voice emanating from the floor above. _I need to be with her._ With that thought prominent in his mind Jeremie grabs his keys once more and writes a quick note for his friends to read in the morning. He hops into the SUV and enters the lonely wet roads of Boston once more.

Arriving at the hospital safely, Jer walks past an ambulance transporting a critically injured patient into the ER and heads straight for the room whose number was burned into his memory. He slips into the dark space and stares at the shadowy face slightly lit up by the glowing green symbols on the monitor. A fantasy that hadn't graced his mind in years entrances him as Jer imagines how life would be with Aelita in his arms. Somehow the specter of sleep sneaks upon him unnoticed and the chair becomes his bed. A few hours pass without incident until the dark shape on the bed stirs. Confused emerald eyes open to view the ceiling as Aelita pulls herself from the tendrils of oblivion into consciousness once more.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer -** Nope, I definitely don't own Code Lyoko.

At first disorientation rules Aelita's mind as she stares upwards at the dark plaster above her. _I don't think this is the afterlife, it wouldn't be this uncomfortable. So that implies I somehow lived…?_ She closes her eyes again and tries to remember what exactly happened. Aelita had gone into a store to grab milk and bread. Paying the cashier, she turned around with bags in hand and someone pushed her into the countertop. The white man in a black mask gazed at her with manic blue eyes that kind of reminded her of Jeremie before pointing a pistol at the manager. Aelita had tackled the man without really thinking about it; a bit of a martyr complex lived in her. The next thing she recalled was a loud sound and an intense sting of pain in her chest. Something had convulsed within her and blackness took her vision. For some reason she couldn't get the robber's blue eyes out of her mind as she faded away.

Coming out of her reverie, the pinkette attempts to shift on the bed and finds herself strangely weak. A stab of pain in her side makes Aelita stop trying to move on the bed. Peering over the sheets, she spies a long tube coming out of her chest and going into some cylindrical object. _What is that for?_ As a matter of fact her entire chest hurt quite a bit. Not excruciating pain, more like a dull throbbing as if something was healing and resented her movement.

Lifting her hands, Aelita looks at the two needles sticking out of her arms. Her gaze follows the tubes to the bags of crystal liquid suspended in the air to her left. As she watches a few drops of whatever's inside follow the tube and pass into her bloodstream. For some reason a beeping sound invades her mind and she turns to her right to stare at the luminous monitor. _How did I not notice that earlier?_ Some of the confusion subsides; Aelita's thoughts become less hazy.

Something besides the monitor invades her aural sense. Aelita picks up the faint noise of breathing that isn't her own. Really wishing she could see forward, the woman gingerly pulls herself up on the bed. Slowly she reaches a position where some of the room met her eye. A strangely familiar head greeted her vision. The darkness in the room prevented her from making out any facial features. _Hmm, that person must be slumped in the chair._ Figuring that she'd know when the chest tube was in danger of moving, Aelita continues her journey upward.

Finally she reaches a decent angle and looks out at most of the room. The ball of darkness that indicated a head morphs into a lanky figure with a long medical coat sleeping in the chair nearest her. Aelita frowns and tries to think why a doctor would be keeping a bedside vigil. Nothing immediately pops up into her head. Instead, the robber's face flashes through her mind again and it sparks an idea. _Didn't Ulrich mention that Jeremie was a doctor?_

With a little bit of nervousness fluttering in her chest Aelita tries to match the shadowed figure with a ten year older Jeremie. _Why am I nervous? That was ten years ago for heaven's sake._ Yet…she knew that some of those feelings still resided deep in her. How could they not? Her love for Jeremie basically defined who she was for the first couple years of her return to humanity. It even defined her time stuck on Lyoko. She couldn't tell if Jeremie slumbered a mere five feet away.

Opening her mouth to say something, Aelita falls to a sudden wave of hesitation. If that was Jeremie then how could she justify waking him up at whatever time it was right now? He needed his sleep. _He always needed his sleep back then; didn't I know that well._ A wry smile flicks across her face as those years at Kadic resurge stronger than ever in her brain. The smile fades away as Aelita realizes that Mark had been correct. He never got the full amount of her love since Jeremie still claimed a portion of it. _Still…that didn't justify what he did._ The usual anger flares in her for a second but a strange twinge in her chest sends a note of panic through her body. A few deep breaths cause the achingly uncomfortable sensation to fade.

Just then she notices the monitor had been beeping slightly more rapidly until she calmed down. Aelita looks over and sees the blood pressure numbers falling and the previous sedate beeping returning. _Oh, my blood pressure went up when I got angry. Makes sense._ Apparently that wasn't a good thing judging by that weird moment in her chest. The change in rhythm must've brought the doctor closer to consciousness as he stirs in the chair but doesn't open his eyes. For a second the glint of glasses reflected a bit of light when he shifted; Aelita narrows her emerald orbs.

_I'm sure plenty of doctors have glasses. Don't get carried away now._ Aelita tries to berate herself for the vain hope but she moves a notch closer to the certainty that Jeremie slept in that chair. Even after ten years she still loved him. That definitely wasn't what she expected to find out on this trip to Boston. She shakes her head and chuckles softly. Of course she chose Boston on the off chance she'd run into Jeremie. After the divorce Aelita wanted some measure of security. There still existed one person in the world who had tried his best to protect her…even if she hated it at the time.

Ah yes, the arguments they had. He fought to prevent her from doing anything that posed the slightest harm to her while she screamed at him how she wanted to live. Otherwise there existed no point to all of his effort in the first place. They loved each other but getting along proved too tricky. _I tried…_ With a heavy heart she broke it off; Jeremie loved her too much to bother arguing at all about it. That amused her to no end at the time. He refused to let her do anything yet didn't stop the one thing that hurt her the most? _Men._ _That really is the only thing that explains it properly._

After that Aelita struggled to pretend that leaving him didn't hurt her as much as it did him. Blind to anything except his own mistakes, Jeremie never noticed. _Of course, I'm not blameless either._ She left Kadic for college and tried to not look back. Her effort failed miserably; the first two years of college she spent remembering those piercing blue eyes she might never see again. Many times she almost asked Ulrich, Odd, or Yumi for his number. It didn't matter what happened in the past. Aelita needed to see him or at least hear his voice. Yet the part of her that remained hurt always prevented her from doing so. Finally the addiction to Jeremie passed; she could go weeks then months without a single thought of him.

Once she met Mark Aelita thought that her life could go on normally. Their courtship and the first few months of marriage were a period of utter bliss for her…until the first piece of news that struck them a severe blow. It hit Mark the hardest; he began to withdraw from her and focus more and more on work. Aelita kept on trying but she knew even after a year that this commitment would fail just like all the smaller ones before. The last straw had been his affair. She stopped caring after that. That was also partly her fault too so she couldn't completely hate Mark. _I just have problems with men. It probably would've been so much easier if I preferred women. But I don't._

Aelita stares blankly at the figure while she tallies the last ten years up in her head. Sure she had lived but it didn't mean she always enjoyed it to the fullest. Her relationships failed miserably; Aelita doubted there were any more chances for her. Boston offered opportunity so she'd just have to wait for something to come along. If she figured out why she was in the hospital and made it out of here that is. Time must have flown by while she thought about bygone days. A hint of pink sunlight gleams through the window slit and into her emerald eyes. She flinches from the blinding light with a gasp.

A sound drags Jeremie from his slumber and he opens his blue eyes. A small beam of light greets him and he shakes some of the sleep away from his mind. Aelita's hair shone luminescent in the light and Jeremie tries to figure out why something looked different about her. _She's sitting up!_ The flare of hope and anticipation rising in him paralyzes him to his seat and he can only look over at the face hidden behind light.

Aelita squints through the light trying to figure out who the person was. She still couldn't get a clear view but she knew that there were two conscious people in the room now. The doctor seemed frozen to his chair as he looked in her direction. With a creak he moved toward the bed, the sun slowly revealing his face. There he stood in clear view; the piercing eyes she remembered so well still the same. A few more lines, a few more worries, a few more cares readjusted her mental picture of him. He still could take her breath away if her sudden thirst for oxygen was any indication.

Jeremie stood in shock as he looks into her emerald eyes. Those deep pools that sucked him in ten years ago effortlessly drew him back. Her beauty still shone from her face. How different she looked with her radiant emerald orbs looking right back at him compared to the wan statue that existed here for three days. "Jeremie…" she whispers. He smiles at the sound of his name on her lips.

Shaking out of her fugue, Aelita looks at his nametag and sees the words "Thoracic Surgeon." _Did he…save my life again…?_ "What happened Jer?" she asks as his nickname rolls off with easy familiarity. Those ten years vanished instantly and nothing seemed different from when they were going out. _Except for the problems. Those are gone I hope._ Jeremie visibly gathers himself.

"You almost died to the gunshot wound in your chest. We got lucky and my team was able to save you. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi are at my house right now sleeping. They all came in the second I called them. I'll pick them up once they wake up. They'll be happy to see you awake." Jeremie replies softly. He enjoyed looking into her eyes too much. All those feelings from high school roiled in him.

"How many times are you going to save my life?" Aelita asks wearily with the hint of a smile playing about her face. "Thanks for adding another bit to the debt I can never repay." she complains then smiles to show that it was a joke. Not that she needed to, Jeremie knew that much.

"Nothing to it my dear. You owe me absolutely nothing. Next time I don't suggest tackling people armed with guns though. It's not conducive to good health. That's my doctoral opinion anyway." Jeremie replies. Aelita raises an eyebrow.

"What's your personal opinion?" she asks with trepidation. This was the sort of thing that caused them no end of problems the first time around.

"It's up to you. Would you tackle that guy again to possibly save the lives of others or would you choose to increase your chance at life? I don't have a say." Jeremie replies. He chuckles at the spark of realization that he had changed that bursts in her eyes. A yawn bursts through his lips and Aelita's emerald eyes harden.

"You've been spending too much time making sure I'm okay haven't you?" Aelita asks while knowing the answer. That drive to stay by her side still surged strongly in him. "In that case, get to sleep." Jeremie chuckles and looks at the sliver of sun slowly rising in the horizon. He had only three hours of sleep under his belt right now and those weren't even restful.

"Well, the nurses should be in soon to check your chest tube and all the other stuff. So I can sit in the chair and try to sleep anyway." Jeremie says. Aelita shakes her head.

"No. You fall asleep on this bed. The least I can do in return is offer something slightly more comfortable than those nasty chairs. I highly doubt you care how it looks to the nurses. Besides, I need a friend right now." Aelita says and smirks at Jeremie's blush. _Wow, we're just like teenagers again._

Jeremie thinks about the idea and scrolls through the list of possible consequences. Well she could get angry if he didn't and that would send her blood pressure up. It wouldn't hurt her anyway. _When could I deny her anything? Except when I was an idiot that is. _"Oh fine. You win princess." Jeremie says and gingerly takes the side of the bed that didn't interfere with any monitors or wires. Being this close to her was driving him crazy. Yet her presence also calms him down and soon he falls into some of the best sleep he'd had in years. Aelita looks at him and smiles at how right it felt. A sudden wave of tiredness sends her to the same place where Jeremie frolicked. Aelita falls asleep with a smile on her face.

_Time to check on Aelita._ Carol looks at her watch and sees that it is promptly 8:30. Perfect time for a routine checkup and perhaps see if the woman awakened yet. She opens the door and finds a scene that never crossed her mind. Jeremie was fast asleep next to Aelita while she slumbered with a satisfied smile on her face. The scrub nurse stares in shock and remembers to close the door. If any other nurse saw this her poor boss would never hear the end of it. She couldn't help but chuckle at the cute picture the two made. They definitely fit together like two pieces of a puzzle.

Deciding to save Dr. Belpois any further embarrassment, Carol taps him lightly on the shoulder. He immediately snaps to alert attention and looks at up at her with a surprised expression. "Good thing it's you Carol. Aelita persuaded me but it wouldn't have been fun if any other nurse saw." His scrub nurse nods and Jeremie quietly stands up. Aelita frowns at the sudden lack of his warmth and her emerald eyes open once again. She blinks sheepishly at Jeremie and the now-laughing woman standing next to him.

"Glad to see you've rejoined us." Carol wheezes in between laughs. Jeremie punches her lightly on the arm and she regains her composure. "Sorry boss." she drawls and earns a chuckle from Dr. Belpois.

"Aelita, this is my favorite scrub nurse and de facto adopted mother, Carol." Jeremie says with a grin. Aelita murmurs a greeting while Carol checks her chest tube.

"Looks like there hasn't been any drainage to report lately. The hemothorax is gone at this point. When do you want to take it out doctor? Even if you're technically off duty today this is a simple procedure." Carol asks after examining the tube contents and finding nothing. Jeremie ponders it and shrugs.

"Why not now? Just have to remove the sutures connecting it to her skin, make sure nothing went wrong, and close it all up. That fine with you Aelita?" The pinkette winces slightly at how matter of fact he describes pulling out a tube stuck in her chest. _Better get it over with though._ She nods. Jeremie asks Carol to grab some local anesthesia and the appropriate tools. He pulls up a steel basin by her side and snaps on gloves and a facemask with practiced ease. Aelita stares wide-eyed at how Jeremie looked the part of a surgeon. _Of course he does, he's been doing this for years._ She hadn't seen it until now.

The door bangs open as Carol runs in with a bundle of supplies wrapped in her arms. Jeremie thanks her quietly and inspects the chest tube. Hunting through the supplies, the doctor pulls out a decently-sized needle filled with a clear liquid and depresses it slightly to remove any excess air. Aelita turns away from the sharp object with a shudder. Jer raises his eyebrows at her reaction. "Ready? This will hurt a little but then the area will be numb." Aelita flicks her hand at him to continue. She endures the slight sting from the needle but it quickly fades into nothingness.

Jeremie peels off the dressing around the entry site and inspects the stitches. Carol hands him the appropriate tool and he swiftly clips the sutures out of Aelita's flesh. Now that the tube was free of any connections he could ease it out. Applying steady and straight pressure with his right hand, Jeremie slowly removes it and drops the object into the steel basin. He double checks that nothing was injured visibly by the tube and begins to suture shut the chest wall and then the skin. Jeremie finishes off with a swap of disinfectant and a nice clean bandage. All Aelita feels is a slight tugging sensation then nothing as Jeremie leans back and drops the tools into a tub of disinfectant with a clink.

"Nothing to it. Feeling anything amiss?" Dr. Belpois asks as he flips the glove into the biohazard container and takes off his mask. Carol picks up the debris and walks out the door. Aelita opens her eyes and gazes back at Jeremie.

"That was fast. Nope, nothing seems wrong as far as I can tell. How many scars am I going to have after this?" Aelita asks half-jokingly.

"A couple. Always could've been worse though." Jeremie says with optimism. Aelita nods and stretches her arms over her head. She looks quizzically at Jeremie.

"So…how long am I stuck in this bed?" she asks. Jeremie checks her chart and thinks about it for a couple seconds.

"Probably a week just to make sure that the aorta heals itself as much as possible before you start moving around again. I mean, you can probably walk around with a nurse each day but you can't leave the hospital quite yet. Now that you're up you might want to talk to your insurance company and let your boss know what happened." Aelita chuckles to herself and shakes her head.

"I'm not worried about either of those. Insurance will definitely cover it and I don't start work for another week anyway. I just moved here six days ago. Look what happened." A faint vibration reaches her ears as she completes her reply and she tilts her head. "That your phone?" Jeremie digs through a pocket in his coat and pulls out the lit-up phone.

"Hello Ulrich. Jeremie says into the phone with a smile. Aelita's face lights up as the realization that she would see her other friends soon crashes on her.

"We just got up and read your note. Aelita awake yet?" Ulrich replies. Jeremie looks over at the happy woman in bed.

"Yep. Just took out her chest tube and I'm headed back to pick you all up. She looks pretty excited to see you all."

"Excellent. I'll tell the others. Yumi's working on breakfast and Odd's sitting at the table ignoring both of us while texting Jane. We'll have food ready for you when you get here. Adios mate." Ulrich hangs up and Jeremie closes his phone. Aelita feels a slight wave of disappointment rise in her since Jeremie had to go. He squeezes her hand briefly, smiles, and then heads for the door.

"I'll be back in a little; hit the red button on the side of the bed to call for anything. " Jeremie says. Aelita smiles in return and waves. She turns to stare out the window and think about today's events while waiting. _I still love him. Good to know._


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer **- My time traveling device still has a few bugs. Nope, don't own Code Lyoko.

The door opens and the three working busily in the kitchen look up. Jeremie walks in with a grin bursting on his face and spies Yumi frying up some omelets. The savory aroma of eggs, peppers, tomatoes, bacon, and cheese make a burst of hunger spark in the doctor's stomach. His grin morphs into a wry smile at all the utensils celebrating their first use in months or years. He never had time to eat a proper meal at home.

"Hey Jeremie. You look rather enthused." Ulrich says with a knowing grin crossing his face. "Aelita's happy to see you I take it?" Jeremie nods abashedly and Odd looks up from his phone to yell some of his enthusiasm. Yumi hunches in pain at the sharp noise and glares over her shoulder at her hyper friend.

"How does Jane handle you? Honestly." She asks while flipping another omelet over. Odd glances at his phone and shrugs.

"She loves my talent and good looks of course." he replies without a trace of boasting lining his voice. Jeremie and Ulrich snort their derision. "By the way Einstein, props on stocking up the fridge. Plenty of variety to choose from this morning." Ulrich mumbles his agreement around the four strawberries stuffed in his mouth. Realizing there wouldn't be much chance to enjoy the scrumptious red fruit, Jeremie grabs a couple from the nearly empty bowl sitting on the counter.

"Need any help Yumi?" Jer asks after setting his white coat on a nearby chair. She looks over at him and points to the watermelon and the knife lying next to it. "Ah, I'll get right on that. This is so much easier than my actual line of work." With a practiced hand Jeremie efficiently begins to slice the melon into equal pieces. Odd blinks in surprise at the precision of his friend's hand and then chuckles to himself. If it wasn't for that surety Aelita might not even be alive right now.

"So, how'd the night go?" Yumi asks while ladling the finished omelets onto sparkling white plates. "By the way, since you're off today…enjoy this mimosa will you? You deserve it." Jeremie takes the offered drink with a smile of thanks. He enjoys the smooth taste of champagne and orange juice before replying.

"It went well. She woke up sometime during the night while I was sleeping. Aelita actually forced me to sleep on her bed for a couple hours. I needed the rest anyway." Ulrich laughs at the scenario and Odd scratches his head.

"Did you wake up after that by yourself or did someone come in and bust you?" Odd asks in between sips of his own mimosa.

"Thankfully my scrub nurse woke me up before anyone else could come in. My hospital's rumor mill already has enough ammo on me without that little tidbit." Jeremie replies with a smirk. The steady chopping sound fills the air as Jeremie continues to decimate the sphere of fruit into bite-sized rinds. Yumi flips a couple omelets through the air onto plates and Odd almost chokes on a stolen piece of watermelon.

"Where'd you learn that?" he asks. Yumi grins and wags the spatula in her hand at him.

"My secret. Now get over here and eat!" Odd needed no prompting. He quickly snatches a fork, a napkin, and a plate containing a steaming yellow blob of goodness. Jeremie washes the knife and his hands then follows suit. He quickly devours the helpless omelet and lowers the watermelon pile slightly. Ulrich busies himself with finishing the dishes; he wasn't hungry. Yumi watches the other two eat while gnawing on some watermelon.

Finally they were done; the kitchen returned to its previously pristine condition. Soft light fell on the granite countertops and gleaming stainless steel appliances. Jeremie had to admit that his house looked so much better with friends in it. The air of disuse fled for now. "Excellent breakfast. I appreciate it and you three being here." he says quietly and sincerely. His friends smile over at him and motion to the door.

"Let's go visit the missing part of our group now Einstein." Ulrich commands as he throws Jer's medical coat at the doctor. Catching the coat with a swift grab, Jeremie snatches his keys off the counter with his other hand and motions to the garage. The four pile into the van and head for their second home in Boston.

"Don't you have other patients?" The soft question from Aelita makes Carol stiffen in surprise. She didn't think that the woman was awake. The scrub nurse looks at the still form with eyes closed on the bed.

"Well of course. Jeremie just asked me to keep a close eye on your condition." Aelita's face twitches into a smile for a brief second at Carol's statement. The smile changes direction and falls into a frown as Aelita rubs her chest uncomfortably. For a second she felt a twinge of discomfort but it faded quickly as it came. "You alright?" Carol asks from her position in the nearby chair.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So how has Jer been doing these last few years here?" Aelita opens her eyes and sits up before giving the other woman an expectant look. Carol chuckles to herself and smiles down at the patient chart resting in her hands. "What?" the pink-haired woman asks.

"Oh nothing. He's been fine as far as I've noticed. Dr. Belpois is an excellent surgeon but he never was happy. Sure he enjoyed his work but I don't think that man had a personal life at all. Until now that is." Aelita ponders that statement and shakes her head. Pink hair rotates through the air as a tinge of sadness inflames her heart. Carol hesitates for a second then asks Aelita anyway. _I really didn't think I was this nosy. Oh well, I already got Jer's answer._ "Do you…like him?" she asks. Carol couldn't bring herself to ask whether the patient loved her doctor. She didn't know Aelita after all.

Aelita snorts and raises her eyebrows. "Like? I passed the liking stage with him over ten years ago. Now I have a second chance…Hey Carol, how is it having kids?" A wistful tone enters her voice as she asks the question. Aelita always wanted to know the answer to that seemingly simple query. So many different answers existed yet they all boiled down to the same thing: love and a sense of ensuring that you would tie into the fabric of humanity forever. Carol doesn't respond but contemplates the wistful tone that she just heard. The portion she was missing clicked in her mind and the scrub nurse blurted it out.

"You can't have children." Carol says with a note of sadness. Aelita nods.

"That was basically the reason I got divorced. Mark wanted kids so badly and after we found out we drifted apart…adoption wouldn't cut it for him. Now I'll have to tell Jeremie sooner or later." A small crystalline tear falls from her emerald eyes and dampens a circle on the white sheets. Her emotional pain masks another twinge in her chest. Carol places a soothing hand on Aelita's shoulder and the pinkette composes herself just as the door opens and her smiling friends walk in.

"The zombie is alive!" Odd wisecracks as he gets in line for the hugs. Said zombie warmly embraces him and smiles. Ulrich and Yumi get their respective hugs and Jeremie receives a lingering one from Aelita. She winks at the doctor when they pull apart and the rest of the room chuckles. The room fills with a glow of happiness at five friends truly reunited for the first time in years. Time flies by in a twinkling as the conversation flows back and forth without ever losing force.

"What are you going to do now?" Ulrich asks Aelita after a slight lull. A now-afternoon sun peeked through the curtains. The others look at the pinkette expectantly; especially Jeremie. Aelita taps a finger to her mouth and steals a sly glance at the doctor.

"I'm not leaving Boston if that's what you're asking. Let's put it this way: I have some unfinished business to take care of." Jeremie raises his eyebrows. Aelita had looked straight at him when she said the last bit. Odd mentally fist pumps at Aelita's thinly veiled declaration. Yumi smiles from her position leaning against Ulrich's shoulder and thinks that this is how it should've been ten years ago. _At least second chances can be had._

The pinkette feels a stronger blanket of discomfort on her chest and opens her mouth to say something. "Jeremie…something's not right." His blue eyes immediately lock on her face with concern. A stream of weakness flows through Aelita's body as her heart thumps out of its usual rhythm. Jeremie was already breaking his gaze from her face and looking at the ECG monitor. The placid heartbeats depicted on the screen were disintegrating into a morass of chaos. Out of habit the doctor's hand flew towards the code button against the wall. Every ounce of willpower in his body urged it to move faster.

The routine of regular spikes and troughs in the ECG monitor disappeared. All that remained were random twitches as a heart tried to force the blood pooling inside it into thirsty arteries. Aelita's brain, starved of its precious oxygen, fades into black. Her hand slackens on the bed and her eyes close softly. Jeremie's hand finally hits the code button and the alarm goes off in the nearest nurse's station. With that mission complete he flew toward Aelita's side. She only had a few seconds before her struggling heart gave up completely. His friends' instincts screamed at them to help but they could only stand by uselessly.

With a crash the door bursts open and the code team rushes in. "Code Blue!" an intern yells as he charges the defibrillator. Jeremie finally reaches her side and checks for a pulse. Nothing registered. The ECG noticed a few random spikes now; Aelita's heart began to lose its electrical charge. The cardiac muscles could no longer contract in unison. Rather, they each spent their remaining electrical potential performing useless movement that did nothing to push the crimson liquid through her circulatory system.

"We have V-fib! Charge!" another intern yells while rubbing the metal paddles against each other. Once Aelita's heart flatlined the defibrillator would be of no use. Shocking a heart without any charge did nothing. Jeremie began CPR while he waited for the eternal seconds to pass. Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich stared on with frightened eyes as Jeremie moved out of the way to allow the code team to continue. The electricity arcing into Aelita's body makes her stretch upwards and a large spike appear on the ECG. Jeremie watched with terror raging inside him as the spike dwindled back into a mostly-flat line. "Raise it, charge again. Give her some epinephrine right now!" A nurse expertly delivers the dose and the intern in charge of the code team moves in for another shot with the defibrillator.

The second shock produces the same result of the first. Jeremie stares at that monitor with all his being focused on seeing a spike. "Charge again." A slight wriggle of the ECG line gives Jeremie some hope that her heart still had a residual charge remaining. _It's been three minutes; there's really no chance after 5._

The room seems to freeze in the instant the defibrillator releases its charge for the third time. If this failed all that could save Aelita was sheer luck. Ten pairs of eyes gaze at the ECG as the line spikes upward for a third time. Four of those pairs stare on with mixed hope and despair; the other six contain the slight boredom of another day on the job. Slowly heading down, the black line representing Aelita's heartbeat stops and surges slightly upward. The sound that Jeremie most wanted to hear echoes into his ears: a beeping from the monitor rather than the unearthly whine of someone fleeing life.

The spikes grow in strength until a shaky but steady pulse registers. Jeremie's fingers against her cool neck find a thready beat. The code team packs up with smiles on their faces; their job usually resulted in failure. Rushing out of him in a whoosh, a pent-up breath frees itself in relief as Jeremie sags to the floor with his head in his hands. Losing her so soon after finding her again would have crushed him utterly. Odd walks shakily to Jeremie and helps the doctor up. Ulrich and Yumi clutch each other while still staring at the monitor.

The two men stare at Aelita's rising and falling chest. Needing to feel the reality that she still lived, Jeremie takes comfort in the strong pulse throbbing underneath his fingers. _Twice death has looked the other way. Third time's the charm takes on a grim meaning now._ He worried even more about her safety; that little episode could have stressed the aorta more than it can stand. Nothing seemed to be going right…his despair stops in his tracks as Jeremie laughs at the complete wrongness of that thought. This was about as good of an outcome as he could expect.

"Unhhh…what happened?" a weak voice asks. Four smiles appear simultaneously as Aelita's green eyes gaze at her friends with confusion.

"Your heart went into ventricular fibrillation. We don't know why yet but it doesn't look like any lasting damage occurred. Lady Luck loves you for sure since technically you died for a minute there. Once again I almost lost you but you're still here." Jeremie replies. Aelita's eyes widen in shock; she didn't think that she had come that close. This week played havoc with her emotions and life and it wasn't getting any better. _Okay, not technically true. All my best friends are here._

She needed some comfort, something to remind Aelita that her tenuous grip on existence wouldn't snap apart any second. One brush with death had wounded her psyche enough; the second pushed her even farther away from sanity. The one she reaches for is conveniently enough both the person she wanted the most and also the closest. Her hands wrap around Jeremie's chest and her tears begin to stain his blue shirt. A few minutes pass in silence except for her quiet sobs and the monitor overshadowing it all. Finally she pulls away a little and gives Jeremie a grateful smile. She didn't want to let go of him completely so she kept a tight grip on his hand.

Feeling weak, the pinkette relaxes into the pillow. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi share a glance and mutually decide to head to the hospital café. It looked like Aelita wanted to have a little private time with Jeremie. They couldn't blame her; the Fates apparently liked dangling Aelita's thread in between the feared scissors. "See ya princess. We'll be in the café if you need to find us." Ulrich says while pulling Yumi out of her chair. Odd and Yumi murmur their goodbyes before the trio quietly slips out the door. Aelita opens her eyes and stares into Jeremie's sapphire ones. _I have to tell him before this goes any further._


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer - **Jeremie refused to hack the copyright for me. So I don't own Code Lyoko.

**A/N: Decided to end it here. Definitely planning on writing more in this timeline though so you'll just have wait while I write it. I could've done sort of a teasing epilogue but I think it fits to stop here. Anyway, enjoy!**

The door shuts behind their friends and the two gaze at each other. "Aelita…" Jeremie trailed off into silence at the confused and scared woman in front of him. The realization of her near-demise once again crashed into her mind and her arms clutched at her shoulders. A slight keening bursts from her throat as she finally lets loose the pent-up emotions that her first session didn't free. In a twinkling Jeremie moves to her side with the old determination to wash away all her harm flaring up once more.

Knowing to let her cathartic outburst continue unimpeded, Jeremie simply wraps his arms around her and waits. He ponders at how quiet she was after the initial noise; tears and the shaking of her body provided the only signs. Minutes passed while Aelita clutched him as the only boulder in her personal sea of storms. Jeremie knew this little scene could get him in a bucket of hot water with the hospital administration but he didn't care in the least. He was on his off day and she needed him. That's all that mattered.

On her part Aelita loves the comforting embrace of his soft arms. She hadn't had someone to console her in a couple months. Well…to be honest with herself Aelita truly hadn't felt the arms she wanted the most in ten years. It only took near-death to be with the one she loved. A higher power couldn't send much stronger of a message than that. Chest hitching against the light hospital gown, Aelita spends her emotional coin and receives a measure of peace in return. Her emerald eyes slip closed as the woman relaxes against Jeremie's chest. Their breathing syncs together as Aelita tries to find the words she needed to say.

Unbidden, a wave of irrational fear floods her body. Feeling Aelita's muscles tense for no discernible reason, Jeremie looks at her with concern flaring once more in eyes. Even though it was probably nothing he couldn't help but slip into darker possibilities. Aelita's smooth skin showed no outward signs of stress but the doctor knew exactly when something troubled her. Amazing how easily he fell into their old patterns of somehow being closer than two separate beings. She would mull it over in her mind and tell him…or not. He would remain either way.

Adjusting her position on his chest, Aelita rubs a nervous hand through her hair. A few deep breaths calm her down slightly. The last time she had this conversation it didn't go well. _Understatement much?_ Deep down she knew Jeremie wouldn't care but that grain of insight failed to convince her panicking mind. The pain from Mark's rejection still flowed under the deceptively calm surface of her demeanor. _Just say it._ Aelita berates herself for the indecision and gathers the scattered bits of her resolve. The pinkette pulls away from him, turns to look at him gravely, and opens her mouth. "Jeremie…" she says in a soft and saddening tone. _Oops. That was the wrong tone to use._ The only other time she had said his name that way was their final goodbye.

Her voice filters into his mind and Jeremie winces involuntarily. The way she said his name remained inextricably linked to his greatest failure in high school. He looked into her green eyes and saw a spark of pain shining in them. Déjà vu swept over him and a previous memory overlaid his current vision. Aelita saw his attention fade from her face and knew exactly where he was going. _Hopefully I'll remedy that particular good-bye when he gets back._

**-Flashback-**

He stood slightly apart from the others. Their murmured conversation excluded him but Jeremie didn't care. It was by his own choice after all. His purposeful distance didn't stop him from surreptitiously glancing at her though. Nothing prevented Aelita from worming through his barriers. _Even the ones I put specifically up against her. _With a bubbly laugh tinged with sadness Aelita hugs her three friends then turns to look at him. "Jer, get over here!" she calls. He walks towards her slowly; Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich discreetly move a few feet away.

His mind feverishly catalogued every detail he could. There she stood in a white blouse and blue jeans, ready for whatever the world would throw her way. Three large black suitcases waited patiently beside her jeans-clad leg. Long pink hair twitched in the light breeze and obscured her left eye before Aelita automatically pushed it back behind her ear. Two tiny emerald crystals hung from her ears; Jeremie remembered giving them to her a few months back. The rumble of trains and clatter of people going about their business fades as the blonde's vision focuses solely on her. _I may never see her again…_

His hands clench for a second and Jeremie forces them open. This never was how he imagined things would play out but change strikes swift and sure. Those who don't adapt and struggle on are doomed to fail. Unfortunately he didn't learn his lesson in time. Now he knew that particular piece of wisdom far too well. Finally he reaches her and simply gazes at her with no reaction. His emotions were buried in a quivering ball locked deep inside.

"How are you doing?" Aelita asks hesitantly. It felt so weird to genuinely not know the answer to that question before she spoke. Jeremie hadn't gotten over her yet and she sincerely doubted if he ever would. Hell, she doubted if she could get over him sometimes when she lay awake at night.

"I'm…not that great." Jeremie replies quietly and the ball of emotions inside him begins to attack his iron grip. Her eyes were too entrancing and they brought back all those memories he would rather not examine. "Look I…" his voice trails off as he tries to figure out what to say. His mind remains stubbornly blank and he sighs. Thankfully Aelita fills the breach by eschewing words with a tentative hug. His arms automatically encircle her body and he wishes the world would freeze right now. Since obviously the hug had to end…

Rather than break away Aelita softly kisses him on the cheek and whispers into his ear. "I'm sorry Jer. But I didn't need your protection….I needed you." Her voice breaks halfway through and Jeremie could barely hear the last part. She pulls out of his arms and Jeremie almost groans at the feeling of loss. Her bright emerald eyes shone with a mixture of tears and tragedy as she looked at him for probably the last time.

"Aelita..." Jeremie realizes that this moment marked his final chance. Their relationship had shattered beyond repair but he couldn't leave it like this. Could he really trample four years of friendship, laughter, trust, and love into the dust? Pain reared its ugly head and Jeremie closes his eyes for a couple seconds. It would probably be for the best if he didn't try to contact her. She didn't want to be reminded and truthfully neither did he. Yet Jeremie still had to say it one more time even if only for himself. "I love you still." he murmurs quietly.

Aelita shows no reaction but Jeremie swears an additional flare of agony appears in her eyes. A sad, wistful smile plays across her lips. Her beauty combined with the melancholy gives her an air of ethereal otherworldliness. The sudden breeze that whips her hair into the air doubles Jeremie's sensation that she was naught but a pale spirit about to depart from his life forever. "I know." she replies. The train horn blares; Aelita steals her last glance of Jeremie and grabs her suitcases. "Good-bye Jeremie."

Jeremie doesn't join in the chorus of good-byes from Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich. He simply watches Aelita's form disappear onto the train and the doors close behind her. The sound of her voice still whispered in his mind with that softly sad timbre she used at the end. He stares in heartache and pain at the locomotive dwindling into the distance. Already he didn't feel whole.

**-End Flashback-**

Jer shakes his head to banish the memory. _Why think of that when she's finally here in front of me? _Aelita smiles with relief at the sudden focus returning to his sapphire eyes. She had revisited the memory with him and was glad she no longer felt regret. That moment didn't matter now that he sat in front of her. High past time for them to fix their mistakes.

Aelita decided not to play around the subject. "Still love me Jer?" she asks. The doctor stiffens. Jeremie looks into her emerald eyes and sees hope mingled with fear dancing in a strange formation.

"Yes." That simple word never sounded so good to Aelita. Ten years are erased in an instant as she leans forward and claims his lips for her own. Patterns and quirks reestablish themselves as the instincts of their old relationship rebuild from the ashes. Jeremie's hand lightly plays with Aelita's left ear and she deepens the kiss. _Shit, he remembers it all._ _Excellent._ His chuckle at her immediate reaction does interesting things to the position of his lips on hers. Jeremie places his hands on her shoulders and breaks their contact. She raises an eyebrow in confusion. Aelita knew he was enjoying it just as much as she was. He points to the heart rate monitor in response to her unspoken question. _Oh. That explains why._

"Sorry dear. You'll have to wait a week." Jeremie says with a smirk playing about his face. Aelita pouts. The doctor laughs at her clear disappointment and takes her hand in his. "I'm assuming that means you want a second try at this?" He gestures with the other hand at the air between them.

"Of course. What else would it mean?" Jeremie's eyebrow twitches as quite a few ideas present themselves. Aelita rolls her eyes at his train of thought and wonders when he got so perverted. Maybe he just decided to reveal his true self.

"No comment." The doctor replies with a twinkle in his eye. "Anyway…this week definitely turned out to be quite surprising." Aelita winces and he squeezes her hand in concern. "What is it?" he asks.

"There's still something I have to tell you." Aelita whispers. Jeremie readies himself for some news that would shatter him again. There weren't any real barriers he could create but self-delusion isn't as bad as utter despair. He tenses as the pinkette takes a deep breath. Aelita searches in vain for a way to cushion the blow she was about to deliver. _Just go for it. You'll have to be blunt._

"Jeremie…I can't have children." Her voice struggles and ends in a low whisper of shame. Jeremie closes his eyes and feels a tide of agony run through him. This beautiful creature was denied the chance to ensure her thread tied itself into the web of life. He hadn't expected this tidbit. The doctor had feared something far worse. Opening his eyes, he looked at the woman burying her face in her hands. This didn't change one iota of his feelings for her. "So Jeremie, if you don-" The sentence breaks off as the doctor gently pulls her hands off her face. He stares into her teary eyes and pours all his resolve and love into his gaze.

"I don't care. All I want is you. We can adopt if we get that far." Jeremie replies quietly. Aelita releases a sob of relief. She feared so much that her admission would scare him off like it did with Mark. His hands wrap around her and happiness replaces the earlier dread in Aelita. This roller coaster of emotions was seriously annoying. Exhaustion floods into her; the physical toll of almost dying coupled with the emotional price of the last hour demanded unconsciousness from her brain.

"Jeremie…don't let me go…" she murmurs against his chest. Jeremie shifts position on the bed so the woman could sleep somewhat comfortably. Aelita grins at using him for a pillow yet again and snuggles a little closer. Her breathing deepens and her face goes slack.

The doctor kisses Aelita's forehead and whispers into her ear, "I never will." Filled with joy at having his other half back, Jeremie rests his head on the pillow behind him and lets his thoughts wander. His friends would be back soon. Everything was as it should be; the ten year old rift had been sealed for good. Now all the challenges in front of him would hopefully be a bit more mundane. That's not to say they'd be boring. With Aelita by his side there would always be at least a spark of happiness in his world no matter how bad the particular day was. _Hmm…waiting a week will be an obstacle._ Chuckling, Jeremie tightens his grip on the pinkette and dreams of a now-bright future.


End file.
